USURPER - Lords of the Permafrost
Soulseller Records
It might be fourteen years since we last heard from USURPER but their spirit as well as musical style lived on with the bands started by the former members. There was BONES which featured three ex-members and released two cool albums some years ago. There was also SCYTHE named after former member Rick Scythe which put out a couple of ugly thrash albums. I'm an old fan of USURPER so when the band died I kept up with their ex-member's exploits which were always good.
This revised version of USURPER contains three fifths of the line-up from their last release, 2005's Cryptobeast. I'm talking about original founding members guitarist Rick Scythe and drummer Joe Warlord. Dan Tyrantor returns on vocals and the band has added new bassist Scott Maelstrom to their ranks. Of course it would've been a better reunion if Jon Necromancer, Carcass Chris and General Diabolic Slaughter were in this line-up. But hey that will never happen. I guess that exposes my fan bias as far as my favorite era of USURPER's career.
Listening to Lords of the Permafrost has been a chore to say the least. Obviously it's a perfect successor to Cryptobeast since there are no tones reminiscent of prior works. The explosive vibe has been cut back a bit. And there are no MANOWAR goes death metal anthem tracks like "Kill for Metal" which made their last one interesting. Musically this new one has more catchy head banging death grooves than previously. Riffs on the whole are pure death thrash and still with that strong BOLT THROWER meets CELTIC FROST aura. Tyrantor can't help himself without forcing in a few Tom G. Warrior style grunts per song.
Speaking of which I like Tyrantor as a vocalist now more than I did years ago. His vocals on here have a deeper massive presence. It's the same with the riffs coming at you in a machine like pounding yet a few twists kicking in here and there bringing in that old school excitement which this great American metal band was always known for. Obviously this is guitarist Rick Scythe's vehicle being realized and he has come up with some amazing as well as fierce thrashy death hate fuck riffs to lure in new fans as well as us old fucks.
It's a rare exception ladies and gentlemen (and you others) that a band can re-group after this long a time and come up with something this potent which does not haze into rehash nostalgia. One of America's greatest metal acts is back, just as good as ever and what the young kids don't know us older folks understand. Wooooooooooo!
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